Recapping The Steelers Second Day Of Free Agency

The first full day of the 2014 league year officially came to an end at 4:00 p.m. EST and for the Pittsburgh Steelers it was day highlighted by the re-signings of several of their own unrestricted free agents.

In case you missed anything, here is quick recap of what happened on Wednesday and you can follow the attached links to the full post on each story.

I really did not expect Woods would receive the attention that he got and especially not this early. The Steelers spent two plus years grooming him and now he’s gone just like that. I was pretty sure he would be back in 2014, but he’s a Steeler no more.

No official numbers have surfaced on any of those three contracts, but being as Warren and Allen both signed one-year deals, there’s a very good chance that both were qualifying contracts for the veteran minimum that come with reduced cap charges. As far as Wallace goes, he signed a three-year contract and I will be surprised if he was given a signing bonus in excess of one million and base salaries of more than the minimum allowed.

Being as Wallace did receive a three-year contract, that could definitely be a sign that free agent center/guard Fernando Velasco might not be re-signed. At the very least, the Steelers will wait until his torn Achilles’ is fully healed before offering him a one-year contract for the minimum.

Also on Wednesday, we finally got the full breakdown of the contract signed by former Carolina Panthers safety Mike Mitchell and close inspection shows the Steelers got a good deal being as he only received $5.25 million guaranteed with $4.75 million of that being his signing bonus. Mitchell’s cap charge in 2014 will be a measly $2.2 million and after the 2014 season they can decide whether or not to move forward with him by paying him a $2 million March roster bonus he is due. At worst, the Steelers will have a $3.8 million dead money charge on the books in 2015 if he does not play well.

As far as other Steelers unrestricted free agents go, defensive end Ziggy Hood and wide receiver Emmanuel Sandersboth had visits with theJacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday and the latter was reportedly scheduled to visit with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after that. Neither are expected to be back with the Steelers in 2014 so a loss of Hood combined with the Wednesday loss of Woods really leaves Pittsburgh ultra thin as far as experience goes on their defensive line. You have to wonder if they might be forced to re-sign defensive end Brett Keisel for one more season if they can’t find a younger defensive end to their liking in free agency.